As the calendar prepares to turn into 2022, Northern California is getting covered with snow, and rainfall in Butte County is leading to more water in Lake Oroville.
As of midnight Tuesday, Lake Oroville had 1,323,897 acre-feet of water in it. While that number is 37% of the lake’s capacity, it also reflects 72% of its average storage his time of year.
The deluge of snow in recent days along the Sierra Nevada mountain range has been a record-breaker. And that’s not only good news for ski resorts but it may lead to a healthy boost in hydroelectricity production in California this coming summer, which would help the state’s often-strained electric grid.
As a rainy December comes to close, nearly all Northern California reservoirs were still drier than historic averages for this time of year, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources.
But the precipitation still gave several reservoirs a boost from the beginning of the month.
After months of extreme drought that triggered water shortages and stoked wildfires, heavy snow is falling in the Sierra Nevada — enough to break decades-old records.
The Mount Rose ski area, at 8,900 feet in the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe, had 116 inches of snow Tuesday, with almost 3 feet freshly fallen since the day before Christmas.
The UC Berkeley Central California Snow Lab at Donner Summit on Tuesday morning reported more than 8 inches of snow in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total for December to 202 inches, the third snowiest month on record since 1970.
Industries are advised to brace for more federal moves next year to reduce and control “forever chemicals,” including plans by the EPA to propose water and waste regulations for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Water made California.
The statement is often made about what is arguably the largest and most complex water transfer systems ever created by mankind — the California State Water Project — and its kissing cousin the federal Central Valley Project.
The snowstorm that pounded the Sierra over the weekend sent crews racing to clear clotted roadways and restore electricity service to tens of thousands of households left in the dark after powerful winds sheared trees that toppled power lines.
Snowfall in western Colorado elevated some snowpack levels to above-average conditions but that snowy weather must continue for it to recharge the parched soil, diminishing streams and low reservoir levels, climate data shows.
While the Western Slope is in much better shape than it was in early December, Becky Bolinger, a climatologist with Colorado State University, said the eastern portion of the state hasn’t been so fortunate. There, wildfire risk persists and crops and livestock could suffer from the lack of moisture, she said.
After more than a year of well-below average water levels at Folsom Lake, the Bureau of Reclamation will start making releases from that reservoir early Tuesday morning.
The releases are necessary because the water level is now near the maximum allowed at this time of year for flood protection. Inflows in the last few weeks have driven the lake up to a near 425 feet, which is as high as the Bureau of Reclamation would like to have it at this time of year.
